Eric Schmitz (b. 1977) is Professor of Jazz Studies at SUNY Oswego, where he directs the Oswego State Jazz Ensemble and Latin Jazz Ensemble, co-leads and performs with the Oswego Jazz Project (faculty jazz quartet), and teaches jazz and rock history, improvisation, jazz arranging, and music theory and composition.

He has lectured on music and given performances at universities throughout the United States as well as in Havana, Cuba; Kielce, Poland; and Cartagena, Colómbia. Eric is an active composer and performer, as well as a judge for jazz festivals throughout New York state. Eric has a passion for Cuban music and has made frequent trips to the island since 2007, where he has studied with Cuban percussion legend Emilio Del Monte since 2012.

Eric’s original compositions and arrangements for big band and chamber groups have been published by Really Good Music, LLC and Hip-Bone Music.

Schmitz earned his bachelor of music degree from the University of Northern Iowa and his MM and DMA in Jazz and Contemporary Media from the Eastman School of Music.

Albums

Ace Composers II

Release Date: January 13, 2023
Catalog Number: RR8083
21st Century
Chamber
Solo Instrumental
Piano
Saxophone
While it isn't entirely unusual for musicians to raise musical children, it is fairly rare for a composer to have not one, but two sons who also compose. This is the case for composition professor Alan Schmitz, who, together with his sons Christopher and Eric, presents of ACE COMPOSERS II, a curated selection of contemporary chamber music which proves that the apple sometimes does fall further from the tree, at least in some regards. It would be impossible to mistake either one's works for that of any of the others: too distinct are the individual idiosyncrasies – the swooping, late-Romantic phrases, the sober, experimental minimalism, and the jazzy groove. Nevertheless, they are all united by one commonality – aesthetic appeal seems to run in the family.